More than words

Kett’s Books is an independent community bookshop run by volunteers. In February 2014 we saved the town’s high street bookshop from closure and developed it into a community-run, full-service independent bookshop.

The previous September our sixteen earliest supporters had met in the Cross Keys pub to discuss whether we could save the town’s bookshop from closing and run it as volunteers. We were literally a group of strangers drawn together by an article in the paper, but we agreed to “have a go,” and in less than three months we had secured loans, formed a business, negotiated contracts, and got the keys to start learning to run a bookshop.

We’ve now transformed our initial assets of enthusiasm, good will, cooperation, and money from some generous lenders, into a successful high street shop, actively participating in the local community, that has the loyalty and encouragement of our
market town and for miles around. The same conviction of “community” that formed us, is actually the value that defines us and keeps us successful.